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How this US Marine & Amputee helps others

Amputee Dana Cummings teaches people with disabilities how to surf for free.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Marine veteran of first Gulf War lost leg in car accident 10 years later
• Denied rehab by insurance, he created his own regimen — on a surfboard
• In 2003, he helped create a group that teaches people with disabilities how to surf
• More than 300 people have taken part in AmpSurf’s free clinics
•
San Clemente, California (CNN) — Dana Cummings survived two tours of combat duty as a Marine in the first Gulf War without injury. But 10 years later, he lost a leg in a car crash.

A divorced father of three, Cummings said he was abandoned by his girlfriend and denied physical rehabilitation by his insurance. Realizing he needed to be strong for himself and his children, he began an intense workout regimen in the hospital — then found his own brand of rehab in an unlikely place: a surfboard.

“I wanted to prove that I was whole, and one of the ways to do that was to learn to surf,” Cummings said. “When you become disabled, you feel trapped. And when I felt the first breath of freedom, of riding that wave, I was like, ‘This is so good, so inspiring.’ I wanted to share that feeling that I had with others.”

In 2003, he helped create the Association of Amputee Surfers, or AmpSurf. The nonprofit, volunteer-run organization is dedicated to teaching people with disabilities, most of them veterans, how to surf — for free.

“We want to inspire them to move on and just be active and live full lives,” said Cummings, 40. “We want them to walk away with that empowerment, that self-confidence that they can do whatever they set their mind to.”
Cummings co-founded AmpSurf with his prosthesis and two other amputees, including Rodney Roller, the man who taught Cummings how to surf. Since 2008, Cummings has been running the organization.

AmpSurf is open to anyone with any disability, including spinal cord injuries, blindness, post-traumatic stress disorder and autism. Seventy percent of participants are veterans.

The group holds one clinic per month at a beach on the California coast. Participants are provided with food, surfboards, wetsuits, sunscreen and towels. They’re paired with one or more volunteers or instructors based on their ability to surf, as well as by disability. Before they get into the water, they receive “dry land” instruction on how to get up on the board.

But the clinics aren’t just about surfing, Cummings said.

“We bring people together to feed off each other and swap stories about what they’re going through,” he said. “For me, this was the biggest mental rehab I could have ever had.”

Anthony Davis is one vet who’s benefited from the program. A retired Navy rescue swimmer, Davis, 28, was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a car accident.

“I remember waking up in the VA hospital in Seattle and not being able to move my legs,” he said.
Doctors told Davis he had a 99 percent chance of never walking again and a 60 percent chance he’d never get out of his wheelchair. But Davis ignored the statistics and was soon standing — with Cummings’ assistance — on a surfboard.

“Surfing makes me feel like I’m flying,” Davis said. “I feel like I don’t need my legs. It changed my life by making me feel a lot stronger and more confident.”

A year later, Davis taught himself how to walk again and attends as many AmpSurf clinics as possible. He also continues to inspire those around him, including Cummings.

“I’m missing my leg and there are days I don’t want to get out of bed,” Cummings said. “But I can’t imagine being told you’ll never walk again, and then having the strength and internal drive to actually do it. Anthony is amazing.”

More than 300 people have taken part in AmpSurf clinics, including Brian Ruhe, 35, who lost both legs above the knee when he was 18.

“A lot of us have amputations or some sort of paraplegia, quadriplegia, are stuck in wheelchairs or stuck to their device, and just to be part of nature, to be free to move with the water, it’s a freeing experience,” Ruhe said.

Each year, AmpSurf sponsors a group of disabled veterans and non-vets in Operation Restoration, a weeklong clinic that offers surfing and other sporting events. Funding for all of AmpSurf’s activities comes from individual donations and local businesses.

For Cummings, AmpSurf will always be about more than just surfing; it’s about happiness, not just for the participants, but for him and his volunteers.

“I always tell the volunteers, ‘You’re going to get 10 times more out of this than the person you help today, because everybody feeds off each other. You can’t help but be happy,'” he said.

“None of us get paid, but we come back month after month, year after year, because it feels good to give back and to help somebody.”

Want to get involved? Check out the AmpSurf website and see how to help.

Hello, I'm Mark Baird and I founded Hire Patriots. My wife and I are 'helpers.' We are concerned about meeting the practical needs of our US veterans veterans and their families. We began a job board for local residents to post chores that they need help with. It has been very successful. Thousands of local US Military and veterans partially or entirely support themselves from our website. We are looking for others near US Military bases who would also like to have a HirePatriots.com website for their location. We also hold welcome home parties, military marriage retreats, job fairs and create military family gardens.

Patriotic Hearts' mission is to create effective economic stability and enhancement programs that assists U.S. Military, veterans and their families and aids their return to the civilian sector as healthy, successful and important contributors to the American way of life; and, to educate the US citizenry about their valiant sacrifices and value to our nation.

Job Fairs

HirePatriots has hosted many job fairs for the U.S. military and veterans. HirePatriots has a stellar reputation with businesses across America and the world. And of course, we are highly regarded by the U.S. military.

Veteran Entrepreneur Mentoring

HirePatriots vigorously seeks to support veterans who have chosen to start their own businesses. We believe that this is crucial to the rebuilding of the American economy and to employing more of our transitioned U.S. military. HirePatriots has created a valuable training and support program for U.S Veteran entrepreneurs. We use the combined business acumen of our multiple HirePatriots’ business leaders to provide step-by-step hands on business development training.

Military Marriage Enrichment Retreats

Our military’s emotional and psychological health, as well as their professionalism is largely dependent upon the health of their relationships with their immediate family members. The divorce rate has risen as high as 90% on bases with frequent combat deployments. Military wives call it "The Plague."

Patriotic Hearts hosts military marriage enrichment retreats to strengthen military and veterans’ marriages. The theme of our retreats is "Love and Respect." They last from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. We continue to follow each couple closely after the retreats. And we have had wonderful success in keeping marriages and families united. These are all-expenses paid retreats.

Financial Wellness

Patriotic Hearts provides training on how to manage personal and family income, through seminars, retreats and online. This is a unique and comprehensive 5 point Financial Wellness series of workshop courses that has been specifically designed for veterans, active duty, and military families. It is a customized, financial wellness curriculum that focuses on helping our heroes and their families understand their particular spending personalities. Then we teach the essentials of money management. And we also explain the necessity for multiple streams of income and investment strategies.

Career & Personal Counseling

Many qualified volunteers offer to give professional counseling to US veterans’ career search. And marriage counselors, PTSD experts and licensed psychologists also donate their time and services.

School Kids Program

A wonderful result of our increasing popularity has been that public schools are adopting Patriotic Hearts and HirePatriots as a community service project. These schools receive their own HirePatriots.com website, and the students fill it with their patriotic efforts, essays, videos and pictures. We are also writing a curriculum and a book to promote this program and make it a perpetual part of our American fabric.

Educational Endeavors

In the last 50 years the American population has gone from 90% of American males being US military veterans to less than 1% of our current generation. And further reductions in our nation’s Armed Forces are being planned. There now exists a tremendous vacuum of understanding and appreciation for the important role veterans and their families play in keeping America a safe haven for democracy and freedom. In response, Patriotic Hearts trains patriotic citizens to speak and seeks out opportunities on TV, radio, in the press, and at community events, associations, clubs and schools for them teach about US veterans’ sacrifices and critical role in preserving our way of life.

Veterans Green Program

In order to raise funds for our Patriotic Hearts programs we are asking companies to donate their e-waste to us. Those companies will receive a certificate of donation from our non-profit. We will hire US veterans to pick up and recycle their waste. And we will be able to fund the vital programs we provide with that assistance.